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Well, I guess this is a matter of taste, but for someone who strongly prefers the UI of Windows 7 and older (like myself), it's almost necessary to tweak things, like disabling/removing Metro (Classic Win32 is fine by me, and does 100% of what I want), adding translucency with Aero Glass, ClassicStartMenu (I have mine configured with the classic Windows 95-Vista menu, but it can do a Windows 7-styled one too), OldNewExplorer to get rid of the ribbon UI in Explorer, etc.
But for some, it's totally fine out of the box, and that's OK. The fact that 8.1 *can* be is nice, because it feels like Windows 10 has caused nothing but problems for most people who try to use it for anything serious, and almost 100% of the time requires a bunch of fiddling with settings to be safe and useful to any meaningful extent (using the arcane Settings app, which I find totally ridiculous when the traditional Control Panel works just fine) (or maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, not sure).
c

I have tested it again, it's not working indeed due to an updated licensing DLL file not compatible with Embedded editions of Windows (not offered by Windows update to Embedded SKUs). So, yes USP4 is not compatible with POSReady 2009.

I like windows 8.1 with metro, I nver understand 'What's so bad about it. Windows 10 is slow, crash, adware, windows 7 runned quite fine on that but 10 ruined it. i'll be stick with 8.1 for a long time, windows 11 i'm waiting, remove windows as a service. Why did you only say it's good with tweaks?

Beta channel for Adobe Flash Player has been updated. Version 29.0.0.102 was released February 15, 2017. Tested and working on Windows XP.
Internet Explorer ActiveX:
https://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/labs/flashruntimes/flashplayer/install_flash_player_ax.exe
Mozilla Firefox NPAPI, and NPAPI for Google Chrome 44 and older:
https://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/labs/flashruntimes/flashplayer/install_flash_player.exe
Google Chrome 45 to 49 PPAPI:
https://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/labs/flashruntimes/flashplayer/install_flash_player_ppapi.exe
Old version uninstaller:
https://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/labs/flashruntimes/flashplayer/uninstall_flash_player.exe

Actually I'm kind of immune for now from the patches in general, since I don't use an AV package and thus nothing has written the QualityCompat value. That's not going to change.
But this does mark my exit entirely from the update train, so I see some logic in what you're saying. Part of me feels like a weight is being lifted from my shoulders, though. I believe the chances of my needing patches to stabilize anything are near zero (the system runs for months without problems) and owing to the more or less atypical defenses I have put up around my systems I doubt malware will ever get close enough to probe for weaknesses.
Having been on 8.1 for a long time, dropping back to 8.0 would feel, well, a little weird. That being said I do from time to time crave the file system performance that was lost in 8.1 vs. 8.0.
And yeah, I already don't see any evidence of Metro at all.
Thanks, though, for your "think outside the box" advice. :-)
-Noel

Thanks Den.
Yes, the Search Companion problem I first noticed just after last month's updates.
I rolled them back at the time but it didn't come good, which had me wondering.
I don't know for sure whether it was actually caused by one of them of course, and as several people have now said that it's not happening on their systems, I'm wondering if it's actually unrelated to any of the updates. Strange that it's happening on both of my XP installations though.
Thanks for your (and other people's) recommendations for alternative search applications.
I'm sure they're all great, but I just don't like Windows facilities malfunctioning for no apparent reason, so I will keep searching for an answer to this!

For experimental users I have modified KB4056615 and KB4074852.
For KB4056615, the original NTFS.sys (The version was changed from 5.1.2600.5512 to 5.1.2600.7392) file was implemented, as well for KB4074852 the file oleaut32.dll (The version was changed from 5.1.2600.7248 to 5.1.2600.7424) and KB4018556-v2.CAT (name adapted to KB4018556-v2x.CAT) copied from KB4018556-v2. Available for the Windows language version ENU, DEU, ESN, FRA, ITA, NLD and PTB. AU, WU and MU are no longer offered after the installation of the modified updates KB4056615 and KB4074852. Before installation, the two original must be uninstalled before! If interested, send me a PM.

8.1, if appropriately tweaked, isn't too bad, and is surprisingly similar to 7, but more up to date, so that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
10, on the other hand, *can* be tweaked to become somewhat sane, but because of this Windows as a service thing, most of the tweaks won't stick, and MS is constantly changing things so current tweaks stop working. As a result, it's a waste of time to even try at this point, unless one likes to spend most of their time tinkering, rather than doing any actual work.
c

WinZip 14.5 is the last version of WinZip to officially support Windows 2000. It is one of the few quality third-party applications with the Ribbon that supports Windows 2000 and is (surprisingly and thankfully) still available for download from Corel.
WinZip 14.5 (and in general, the WinZip 14 branch) is notable in that it introduced the Ribbon interface as well as support for many features new to Windows 7 including Jump Lists, Libraries, and multi-touch gestures.

Here is ffvpx in new UXP
https://github.com/MoonchildProductions/UXP/tree/30bfbb3f97bd64b7838bcb55c98fa698b1bcc9d2/media/ffvpx
But I still love moibus.
I have compiled new UXP , it doesn't feels as fluid as moibus.
Is it possible for us to fork moibus for XP by backporting secuirity updates,libraries update ,bug fixes? [It can be a better browser].
If moonchild has rewriten shell of PaleMoon for Moibus then it would have been much better. Moreover palemoon except some UI changes.

I just noticed something. The specifications for both MSI X99 boards I mentioned a few posts up speak of the Asmedia USB 3.x CHIPSET, whereas the other boards have an Asmedia/Renesas USB 3.x HUB. Also, checking the support section on the manufacturers' websites, there are Asmedia USB 3.x drivers for the two MSI X99 boards, but none for the others (they only provide Intel USB 3.0 drivers). Could that mean that the ones designated as "hubs" still get their juice from the Intel USB 3.0 controller? If that's the case, I should count on getting a USB 3.0 PCIe card anyway.

*Off Topic
@dencorso
Hello, you seem to be lurking a lot in this thread, apologies for the OT but can you please take a look (or notify another mod) at the forum issue I reported here (and possibly oblige ) ? Many thanks...

As the problem is only in the oleaut32.dll file of KB4074852 and not in the whole update (Kernel32.dll, ntdll.dll, Ole32.dll, Rpcss.dll, Updspapi.dll) this is what I have done to fix it. I do not know if it will be a good procedure but it works:
- Search in C:\WINDOWS for all oleaut32.dll files
- Copy oleaut32.dll 5.1.2600.7248 550KB to C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache
- Rename to C:\WINDOWS\system32\oleaut32zzzzz.dll 5.1.2600.7424 534KB
- Wait a while for the system to automatically copy it to C:\WINDOWS\system32
- Restart (It may give some errors while shutting down the first time)
Malwarebytes work, Find target work...
---------------------------------------------------
I add that the list of cpu affected by Meltdown / Spectre is increasing and is already in version 7: https://www.techarp.com/guides/complete-meltdown-spectre-cpu-list/ The Core 2 Duo already appear.

In my regoin, daily windows 8.1 actually grown a little! Windows 10 M$ crap, did grow a small bit too. The good ol' windows 7 is constantly combating with windows 10's ''windows as a service'' thingy but I'm actually expecting for windows 11 to appear, at least I hope so. Windows 8 is kinda crap, but windows 8.1 november, which my iso included, is awesome, without any tweaks! The only reason I used ever edge was the paint feature, but even that was just kind of play around with it. I'll never used Windows 10 again.